Walk with Me
by Aryll Jaynn
Summary: Let's just say Valentine's Day isn't exactly Zelda's favorite holiday, with all the lovey dovey nonsense and whatnot. After a long day of tolerating the popular gang's "displays of affection" at school, Zelda is just about ready to go home and get away from it all. But along the way, will she realize that Valentine's Day isn't as bad as she makes it out to be? Zelink, AU.


**Welcome to my very first story, everyone! I hope you like it! This one's just a simple oneshot, but I do plan on posting some of my multi-chapter stories later on if this goes well. Please no hateful reviews, but I would love some feedback! Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy!**

 **~Aryll Jaynn :)**

Walk with Me

To me, Valentine's Day is just an excuse for popular girls to show off their obnoxious boyfriends and for nerds and outcasts like me to feel bad about themselves.

Why, you may ask? At my school, the choirs do these "Valentine's Grams" which are basically a fundraiser where kids can buy cards and candy for their "loved ones" and have the choir sing for them every year. It's always super embarrassing, not only for the kids being sung to, but also for the kids who _don't_ get sung to. Basically, anyone who doesn't get a card is either a loner, outcast, or socially impaired.

At least, that's according to the popular gang at my school. Their stupid group is full of girls who wear skirts so short it makes me think, why even bother _wearing_ clothes, and guys who's voices are so deep they sound like a lawn mower and tractor getting in a dirty fight.

Once, a group of them started tormenting my friend Medli because she wasn't a "normal Hylian like them" due to her wings and beak. I mean, if the idiots actually _payed attention_ they'd know that she was a Rito, which were a tribe of half-bird people.

Another time, one guy Groose even made fun of this poor kid, Fledge, because he couldn't run under a ten minute mile. The jack-off himself with a large pompadour can't run even an eleven. What a load of crap.

And yet, despite how _horrible_ the populars can be, _they're_ the ones that get the most cards on Valentine's Day.

I hate the idea of populars being different from the rest of us. I mean, sure, I, for one am pretty popular amongst my friends, but then again, they're not much to go against.

Don't get me wrong, I freaking _love_ my friends. They're amazing and special and all that other mushy stuff. But according to the populars, they're considered to be at "the bottom of the social spectrum", which I don't understand. Sure, Karane's family is pretty middle-class, and Midna is kind of a rebel and goes against everything said to her, but that doesn't make the populars any better! They're the ones getting in trouble for making out on school property every now and then and lighting the trash cans on fire.

I glanced at the clock above Mr. Barrhem's desk, yawning. We were taking a boring math test, and I had just finished my last question. I smiled slightly, taking pleasure in watching the other kids struggling to finish. We still had about half and hour left. _Time to check my work!_ I thought, flipping back to the first page.

Just then, the door swung open, revealing yet another group of those freakin' singers.

I groaned as the others cheered at the fact they'd miss precious work time on account of these stupid singing grams. Idiots.

The group of girls smiled flirtatiously at this one boy sitting in front of the room and then, to the teacher, one of them, a tall blonde with way to much mascara on, said, "We'd like to dedicate _this_ song to Pipit Avixe!"

I heard Karane scoff next to me. "I _wonder_ who got him _that_ song," she muttered sarcastically, glaring daggers at the blonde girl who was currently singing in close proximity to Pipit.

I snickered slightly. "Is that I hear jealousy in your voice?" I accused.

She whipped her head towards me, her red pigtails flying. "What? No! I-I don't like Pipit!"

"I never said you did..." I replied, smiling slightly at her red face. Busted, I thought. Someone has a crush!

She blushed and looked down angrily. "Fine. You caught me. I like Pipit."

I laughed. "Aw, that's adorable! I totally ship you two!"

Karane shook her head. "He likes that popular girl," she said simply, staring at said girl with a scowl fixed on her face.

I rolled my eyes. "Annabella? Nah. She's too perky and totally reinforces the whole 'dumb blonde' thing." I said, patting her back.

She quirked an amused eyebrow. "You know _you're_ blonde too, right, Zel?"

"Well, yeah...but that just gives me more of a right to make fun of the stereotype!" I insisted, flipping a strand of hair out of my face.

She finally cracked a smile. "Thanks, Zelda. You definitely know how to make me feel better."

I nodded, grinning after the singers had left, leaving the kids who'd been sung to red-faced as Annabella blew them a kiss. I wanted to gag.

Mr. Barrhem let out a hearty laugh. Then, our Goron teacher said, "Well, I hope that didn't distract you all too much! Back to work!"

I glanced at the clock again and scowled. The freakin' singers had taken five whole minutes of our work time. If I don't get an A+ on this, the blame's on them.

I sighed. I really hate Valentine's Day.

…

After math, the rest of the day just got worse. At lunch, there was this big freak-show in the courtyard where Kafei asked Anju to be his girlfriend, and then everyone started gushing all fangirl like. Then, during English, many girls squealed as the so-called "sweetest boy in all of Hyrule" handed out Valentines to everyone. Even me.

"Here," he said, smiling and handing me the red card. His green eyes were bright and friendly and his dark hair was swept to the side.

Now, just because I hate Valentine's Day doesn't mean I'm a horrible person. I thanked him kindly and placed the card somewhat gently in my backpack. After he'd walked away to hand a card to someone else, I internally scowled. _Thanks, but I don't need your pity, Ravio,_ I thought bitterly. Though, as soon as I thought it, I regretted it. I knew the poor guy was just trying to be nice. It's just that...I didn't want him to be nice to _me_. I was a jerk sometimes.

By the end of the day, I was just so _exhausted,_ all I wanted to do was go home, make some hot chocolate, and then take a nap and feel bad because no one had bothered to give me a Valentine that actually _meant_ something.

I guess that's the reason I hate it so much. You got all these girls who wear so much makeup to school to make you wonder how the heck they have time for other things, and they're the ones who have boyfriends. I guess boys are just too shallow to actually try and find someone with a goshdang _personality_ to be their significant-other. I don't care, though. Even if my hair is usually not very extraordinary, and I don't cover my face in ten pounds of makeup, I'm sure there'll be _some_ doof out there who'll like me for who I am. Hopefully.

I sighed as I looked outside the window in the last five minutes of history. It was raining hard. Really hard. Luckily, I'd thought ahead and checked the weather with Siri that morning to ensure I wouldn't get soaked on the walk home.

After Mr. Rauru dismissed us, I quickly dove out of the classroom and headed to my locker to get some random things for the end of the day.

Well, it wasn't all my locker. Karane, Midna and I all shared one. How we were able to maintain a strong, friendly bond after that was beyond me, but it works, so I shouldn't complain.

I was a neat-freak. If so much as one thing was out of place in my section of the locker, I'd flip. Karane was more in the middle, but Midna was the messiest of all. Wads of gum were even stuck to the corner of her section. It was gross, but as long as it didn't touch my stuff, I was fine with it.

Mid and Kar, as I liked to call them, were already there when I arrived. Midna held a small flower in her hands and Karane was laughing hysterically.

"Hey, guys," I greeted them dully, bending over to grab some notebooks. "What's up?"

"Zel, guess what?!" Karane sang, her blue eyes gleaming.

"Kar, shut up!" hissed Midna before I could ask "what".

After closing the locker, I gave Midna's bouquet a pointed smirk. "Someone special give that to you, Mid?"

At this, Midna's pale blue skin blushed a bright red. Before she could answer, Karane gushed, "Zant got her a Twilight Lilly! The rarest flower in Hyrule! Isn't that just adorable?!"

I smiled brightly, though on the inside I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. _No one's ever gotten me flowers before..._ Then again, Zant _was_ Midna's boyfriend...they'd been dating for a few weeks now, and every time he was brought up, Midna's fiery, impulsive attitude became really shy and blushy.

It's freakin' crazy what love can do to someone.

"Mid, that's awesome!" I said, patting her back.

She smiled slightly, fingering the delicate petals of the flowers. On the tag, in somewhat messy handwriting, it said, _Here's a li_ _l_ _ly for my Twili!_

Goddesses, that was cheesy. But I suppose Midna liked it and that's all that really mattered.

Karane and I squealed some more before Shy and Blushy Midna turned back into Feisty and Impulsive Midna. "Now, shut it, you two, before I impale your heads on a rake in my backyard!"

We all laughed. Though my two minute happiness was cut short as I groaned when we made our way outside, where couples stood making out in the rain.

I really wanted to gag. Get a _room_ , for the love of-

"Hey, Zel, are you walking home?" asked Midna, interrupting my thoughts once we were under the oning that covered the roof.

I nodded. "Yeah. But don't worry, I have an umbrella."

She smiled mischievously. "I thought you would have left it at home."

I cocked an eyebrow, not really liking where this was heading. "Why...?"

"So a guy would share his with you, of course!" Karane giggled and Midna smirked.

I rolled my eyes, smiling at their absurdity. "You guys are crazy. Anyway, I got to go. Love you,"

"Love you!" they sang back and then headed the other direction.

I sighed and then starting walking the route to my house, trying my best to ignore the couples walking hand in hand across the road.

 _Stupid Valentine's Day. Stupid school. Stupid relationships, so confusing. Gosh dangit!_

My thoughts were interuppted as someone's baritone voice called from behind me, "HEY! ZELDA!"

I turned, confused. Then, I saw none other than Link, a boy in my Ancient Hylian class, running towards me frantically, with his stack of books covering his head in an attempt to prevent his scraggly, blonde locks from getting wet.

I sighed. Link was probably one of the most annoying kids at school. Granted, he wasn't like the populars, who were just plain terrible, but he was...alright, to say the least. A lot of girls in my class thought he was cute. I mean, his hair _did_ look kind of like rays of sunshine and his eyes were like staring at the ocean on a bright morning, but— _Wait, what the he_ _ck_ _am I thinking?!_

His blue eyes shone when he saw me stopping, waiting for him to catch up.

"Oh. Hey, Link," I said casually as he finally halted to a stop near me, panting. "Um...do you need the Hylian homework or something?"

He looked at me, confused. "What? No! I just _gasp_ need an umbrella! It's raining freaking Nayru's tears today!"

Without warning, he grabbed the umbrella I was holding out of my hands.

My eyes widened. "Link, what the heck?!" I yelled as the cold rain started pouring down my face and into my eyes.

He laughed, enjoying my anger as he proped the umbrella handle on his shoulder. "Ah. That's better. Thanks for letting me borrow it, Zelda!" he chirped, starting to walk ahead of me.

I scowled, running to catch up to him and taking the handle back forcefully. "Nice try, but it's _mine!_ You should have checked the weather this morning!"

He fake pouted as the rain started wetting his hair again. "Aw, you're a jerk, Zelda! Come on, can't we just...I dunno, share it? We're heading the same way anyway."

At this, Karane's words came back to me and I blushed. _So a guy would share his with you, of course!_ I shook my head, snapping out of it. "Whatever. Just don't hog it all," I conceited, holding out a small portion of it to him. He grinned and rushed over to get under the umbrella next to me.

I felt my cheeks redden and my heart pound faster as he took the handle from me again, our hands brushing together slightly, and held it up for both of us.

"I'm taller," he said, as if talking to a child.

"I know," I grumbled, a cross look on my face as we began walking.

 _Gods, if Midna and Karane saw me right now..._

"Hey, Zelda?" he asked, turning his gaze towards me.

"Hmm?" I asked, feeling a bit awkward, as we were standing in _extreme_ close proximity to each other.

He started to say something, but his cheeks suddenly flushed red and he turned away, droplets of water flying out of his hair. He laughed nervously. "Uh, never mind."

I shrugged. "Okay."

"Well...there was this one thing I had to ask." he sighed, turning towards me again.

I raised an eyebrow, slightly irratated. "Yes?"

"How do you say 'Bananas are bae' in Hylian?"

"Um, what?" I asked, slightly taken aback.

"You heard me," he said seriously.

I shrugged. "I have no idea. There isn't a chapter in the textbook for 'absurdly random phrases'."

He sighed dramatically. "Gee, thanks a lot, Zelda. So much for being a nerd."

I rolled my eyes and muttered something back softly.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Never _mind,_ " I said, a bit angrily.

"Oh, that's what you said. How come smart people are always so quiet?"

"Because smart people keep their smart thoughts in their heads rather than saying every stupid thing that comes to their minds!" I snapped.

He laughed. "Ouch...that makes all us stupid people look pretty bad."

"No one's acutally stupid, you know," I told him, looking straight ahead at the road. "Everyone is smart in their own type of way."

"Then why'd you just say-?"

I groaned. "Can you not? Let's just keep walking, okay?"

He smiled. "You seem pretty...tired," he remarked.

My heart froze for half a second. Dear goddesses, I'd thought he was just gonna leave it at y _ou seem pretty._

"I am," I replied grumpily. "Stupid populars showing off their displays of affection all day is really tiring to watch."

"You're just jealous," he accused, knudging me.

I turned towards him, my mouth hanging open in disgust. "Excuse me? No, I'm not!"

"I think you are,"

I scowled. "Just because I've never gotten a Valentine Gram, it doesn't mean I'm jealous! They're stupid!"

"Are they?" Link asked mockingly.

I blinked and then sighed, turning to face forward again. "Screw it. It's not worth arguing with you."

"So you _are_ jealous!" he announced, a smug look on his face.

I remained silent, not really wanting to continue the debate. "Whatever."

Link laughed good-naturedly. "It's fine, you know. I've never gotten one, either."

I raised an eyebrow. Seriously? _Link_ of all people hasn't gotten one? Wow. "Really? But...all the girls-"

"Always flirting with me? Yeah, there's that. But none of them have ever gotten one for me. Thank Din, though. They always creep me out."

I laughed. "Yeah, I suppose. I saw Brietta Arbuscus flirting with my friend's boyfriend, Zant today. Thank Nayru Midna wasn't there...she'd have smudged poor Brietta's pretty makeup with a punch to the nose."

"Yeah, Midna does seem like the kind of person to do that," Link agreed as we turned a corner.

"So, where exactly do you live?" he asked me a few moments later.

"Jeez, stalker, much? First, tell me where _you_ live, Mr. Umbrella Theif."

He laughed nervously at my stupid nickname, wringing his hand through his messy, blonde locks. "I can't tell you. My sister would kill me."

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"Aryll has this weird rule that I can't tell anyone where I live or she'll, and this is coming from an eleven-year-old, 'sell me to a pack of hungry Bokoblins that live in the forest surrounding our house, where they'll cut me in half and eat me as a three-course meal'."

I stared at him blankly.

"Yeah...she's a strange child. Don't ask where that came from, because I have no freaking clue."

"Okay, then..." I said uncertainly.

Link sighed. "Anyway, where do you live?"

"A few more blocks away," I answered, kind of relieved to change the subject.

Link's sister seemed...interesting, to say the least. I smiled at the thought. I've always wanted a younger sibling. Instead, I was stuck with an annoying-as-heck older brother, Daphnes, or Daph, who was in college, and I swear, the days without him were the best I've had. No fighting over the Pumpkin Soup for dinner, the TV, the computer, the tablet, the bathroom, nothing! It was great. Though, I guess I did _kind of_ miss him. In a weird 'big brother' sort of way.

The conversation changed from strange siblings to our friends, which was a pretty interesting topic.

"Pipit and Sheik," Link answered when I asked him who he usually hangs out with. "The two biggest doofusses to ever roam Hyrule. You?"

"Midna and Karane," I replied, giggling slightly. "The two _best_ and most _lovable_ people to ever roam Hyrule."

He scoffed. "Seriously? Did you just call Midna _lovable?_ "

"Hey! No one insults my friends but me!" I said in fake-seriousness. "Besides, I wouldn't call _your_ friends any better."

"Oh, it's _on_." Link said, shoving me playfully.

I laughed, my shoulder burning slightly at his touch. The rain was still pouring down tremendously. Link was right, it almost _was_ like Nayru herself was crying.

Link and I continued chatting about random crap. We talked about the math test, the singing grams, our classes...pretty much everything about school. It was actually kind of...relaxing. By the time we'd reached my house, I decided: _Link is actually a really nice person to talk to..._

"Well, we're here," I announced, smiling slightly. Thank _goddesses_ Dad wasn't home yet. Him seeing me with a boy was _not_ good.

"Yeah. Well, thanks for sharing the umbrella with me, Zelda!" Link said, smiling and handing it to me once we'd gotten under the porch.

I was about to take it, but then I realized there was no way he was getting home without being drenched, so I sighed and said, "Just...take it with you, all right? I don't want to be blamed if you get hypothermia."

He grinned toothily. "Thank Farore! I thought you'd make me walk home all by myself and then have to explain to my grandmother and sister why I'm soaking wet and dragging mud into the house."

I smiled. "What if they ask you where you got the umbrella?"

He shrugged. "I'll just tell them the truth. A friend lent it to me."

I opened my mouth to ask ' _You think we're friends?'_ but then shut it promptly, deciding for once, _not_ to be jerk and just go with it.

"Okay. Sure." I replied, turning around to face the door while fumbling with my keys.

I could sense his smirk. "So, you agree that we're friends?"

I sighed. Why did boys have to always overcompicate things? "If I say yes, will you just freaking _leave_ before my dad comes home and kicks you out?"

Link laughed, and I joined in a moment later. _He sure makes me laugh a lot..._

"Fine. I will. Just because I know your dad is kind of a scary policeman."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

He smiled one last time. "Well, see you, Zelda." he said, waving and heading down the steps.

I smiled slightly in return. "Bye, Link..."

"Hey, Zelda?" he asked, turning around again.

"Yeah?"

His cheeks reddened slightly and he shuffled from left to right on his feet. "Walk with me again sometime, okay? It was nice...talking to you. You're a good friend."

And with that, he left, running off on the sidewalk.

I stood blinking for several moments. I really couldn't believe it. Today had started off pretty crappy with all the lovey-dovey nonsense and the singing and whatever. But I guess it wasn't all _too_ bad. I'd made a friend, after all.

That night, I thought about our walk together, replaying the moments over and over in my head. Link was a nice guy, that was certain. He was funny, sweet, charming, and a tad cute, I suppose.

The thing is, by the end of the day, I didn't really hate Valentine's Day as much as I hated it that morning. Sure, it was still kind of annoying with all the making out and whatnot, but when it comes down to it, I guess V-Day isn't _just_ about that mushy stuff.

It's about friendship, too.

And a friendship, I believe, is a more important ship to sail than any relationship.

I guess I _was_ kind of jealous at first of all the girls who had boyfriends. But I came to realize, I don't _need_ a boyfriend. At least not yet. I have a lot of just _friend-_ friends that I should be grateful for. And I'm glad Link was one of them.

I smiled before I closed my eyes that night and whispered. "Anytime, Link. Anytime."

~The End~

3

" _When it comes down to it, I guess Valentine's Day isn't only about the adorable shipping and the romance. It's about friendship, too. And a friendship, I believe, is a more important ship to sail than any relationship." ~Zelda Nohansen_


End file.
